Nicely presented

If I was a native to these shores I’d probably know what the little round balls are actually called. As it is I will mutter gobstoppers, lemon sherbets and Turkish delight. I know it is none of them, but they are the sweets I know the names of.

John Boyne has a new book out next month, titled Stay Where You Are & Then Leave. It’s about WWI, and without having read it – yet – it looks good.

So do the sweets. They came with the book, packaged in a paper bag and tied with plain string. Sort of olde worlde-ly. I sometimes feel sorry for the person whose job it is to wrap books in unusual ways. But only sometimes.

Obviously it makes no difference to me how a book comes. If it looks good I’ll try it. And if it actually is good I will tell you about it. I enjoy a good presentation as much as the next witch, but these non-gobstoppers will not buy me.

Just so you know.

(They look like little marzipan balls, as you might make for Christmas or Easter in Sweden. But we’ve already covered the iffy area of Swedes offering delicious things to eat. Much better they are not little marzipan balls. Nor are they lemon sherbets.)

On more recent occasions we have opted to shop, or merely browse, at the Scottish Antique & Arts Centre outside Doune, and then got in the car to have tea somewhere else. But then, it can be nice to sit … Continue reading →